Yermak's conquest of Siberia

Good morning dear listeners and welcome to RadioArt, the radio dedicated to Culture and Traditions. Today’s program deals with paintings or photographs in the history human conquests, and we’re now going sustain our momentum by tackling a canvas which depicts a period of the European history barely known to the general public : the Russian conquest of Siberia. Therefore, the masterpiece that epitomizes this bloodthirsty conquest is entitled : Yermak’s Conquest of Siberia, and it was painted in 1895 by the foremost Russian artist of large-scale historical subjects Vassili Sourikov. This work of art, which takes its contemplators back to Siberia in the late 1560’s, is oil on canvas belonging to the realism style.

Thereby, this realistic painting represents the historic Russian broadening to the East through a massive battle opposing the Russian Tsardom Cossacks and the Mongols from Siberia. The general impression of the picture is the grandness of the battle and the stunning enormity of the people’s collision, as if two storms met in the same place. The artist managed to render the intensity of the ferocious clash of masses as well as the mood and the state of every warrior. Moreover, the whole canvas is overflowing with warriors relentlessly fighting one another, and the battlefield is stretching endlessly, what point out the extent of the battle. In the background, we can also distinguish Mongolian structures with high cupolas, what implies that the action takes place in the Mongolian Siberia. Nevertheless, the focal point of this painting is in the middle in the foreground, where we can see the Russian combatants opening fire at the Mongolian troops, only armed with swords and bows. Therefore, the focal point brings to light the huge technologic gap between the Russian and the autochthonous Mongolian people. Furthermore, the painter uses original colours for representation both brave faces and bright coats of the Russian and the mongoloid faces. Thus, Surikov wants to show that every nationality has a beauty of its own.

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